china funds pbs. i guess that explains why this week's "sesame street" was brought to you by the letter this. according to nielsen numbers, more than 70 million people watched wednesday's debate either on tv, online or from one of the podiums. >> good morning. it's monday, october 8th. welcome to "morning joe." with us on set, we have msnbc contributor mike barnicle, political editor and white house correspondent for "the huffington post," sam stein. and managing editor of "fortune," andy serwer. >> andy, good to see you. how did columbia do this weekend? >> it was another "w." lehigh, i believe. >> lehigh. >> went out to pennsylvania and lost theootball game. >> the columbia, what are you guys? >> lions. >> lions, exactly. of course, i knew that. ivy league mascots. hey, mika. >> yeah. >> something weird's happening in this campaign. you know, sometimes you'll have an event, and as the event goes by, you'll just sort of count the days and wait for the buzz to dissipate, because it always does because